Memory Verse:
2 Corinthians 9:6-7 (ESV)
⁶ The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.
⁷ Each one must give as he has made up his mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

Action Step:
Bring a significant “first fruit” offering next Sunday as we celebrate what God is doing through ADVANCE!

Random Thoughts:

• Sunday morning we continued in our “ADVANCE” series and learned about the heart of generosity from Pauls 2nd letter to the Corinthians in chapter 9 specifically in verses 6 and 7. 
• If you sow little, you reap little!
• Givers always have more than enough, takers never have enough.  Check out Prov. 11:24.
• We had a sweet time with our ADVANCE leaders on Saturday night of this past week.  They brought their ADVANCE commitments and we had an awesome time taking communion and worshiping together.  I am so thankful for their work and leadership during this season of Church at the Grove!
• Last Friday we had the whole Shababy family over for dinner.  Leo and Monica came with Jordan.  Gabe, Kortney, Hayden and Riley came over as well and we had a blast!  What a beautiful, godly family.  Jill and I learned a ton about raising godly kids!  I am so glad they are part of the CATG family!
• Last Sunday morning! WOW!  What a God-glorifying morning of worship.  Austin Prince!  That dude is growing as a worship leader.  I love Austin’s spirit and heart for God.  His talent and excellence as a worship leader is rapidly matching his authentic heart for God.  I love that guy.  I also missed Shelley.  She will be back this Sunday.
• I am so proud of CATG for their response to ADVANCE!  I hope it is ok to be “proud” of them!?  We still will have some commitments come in these next few weeks but I am thrilled to see the faith response of so many.  I look forward to sharing the commitments with everyone. 
• If you have not made a commitment to ADVANCE, you still can! 
• My father-in-law is having major surgery next week.  I would love for people to pray for him!
• Speaking of prayer;  We had an awesome time at our first ACCESS prayer time on Tuesday night at Gabe Shababy’s house.  I urge you to consider joining us every other week for prayer.  We will announce the place for prayer on Nov. 24 soon.
• “SHOP WITH A HERO” is Saturday Dec. 5 9am-12noon in front of Loganville Wal-Mart!  I would love for all our uniformed people to help us by shopping with a child.
• I am now TWITTERING!  It is a web tool that allows me to keep people up to date with what I am doing, thoughts I have and any other info.  you can go to http://twitter.com/russbutcher and check out what I am doing.  I would love to hear what you think.
• Keep praying, Keep fasting and Keep serving!  God is doing and will do incredible things as we follow Him.
• I just read The Legacy of Sovereign Joy by John Piper.  What a challenging book on the lives of Augustine, Luther, and Calvin!  I am now reading Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Jesusby Ann Spangler and Lois Tverberg. 

See you Sunday! 

Scripture memory:
Mark 8:35-36 (ESV)
³⁵ For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.
³⁶ For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his life?

Action Step:
Bring your commitment to the ADVANCE Faith Initiative next Sunday and make it an offering to Jesus.

Random Thoughts:

• A friend I was talking to on the phone yesterday asked me how things went yesterday at Church at the Grove and I answered, “It was a great Sunday!”.  The truth is that every Sunday is a great Sunday but yesterday was different.  There are times when you just sense God’s presence and His hand at work in such a fresh way.  It is as though we were right in the center of where we should be.  It was not just a great Sunday but a ‘right’ Sunday as well. 
• I love my community group.  We are having a blast and last night was great Bible study, discussion and fellowship.  Oh yeah, and great FOOD as well.  The conversation, without any prompting from me, turned to the ADVANCE Faith Initiative.  One person shared quite vulnerably that when we started the Faith Initiative that they dreaded the idea of giving more money.  They went on to share that as we have moved farther into the Initiative that they are looking forward to giving.  They stated that they have never been a part of something like this where the focus truly seemed to be about ministry rather than money.  I loved it!  They also shared that the difference has been the focus on prayer and seeking God’s leadership.  YEAH! 
• I am so thankful to God for bringing people like Leo and Monica Shababy into our fellowship.  They are such encouragers, prayer warriors and I love their focus on the glory of God!
• I am asking our church to be in attendance in full force this Sunday as we come to our “Celebration” Sunday, bringing our commitments as “unto the Lord”.  My heart’s desire is to make this about worship more than just about money.
• I love our volunteers so much and I am so thankful for the work they put into making ministry happen in the life of Church at the Grove.  We always need more people to help us do what we are doing.  Are you serving anywhere?
• Our ADVANCE team has been amazing!  They have put in a lot of hours and manpower and have done a great job with the Faith Initiative.  There are too many names to mention and I would hate to leave someone out but I am thankful for all their hard work. 
• January will be here before you know it!  Are thinking about who you can invite to join you at the new high school auditorium when we move?  We have a lot of seats to fill!  What if we were praying for 10 people we could invite in 2010? 
• We have a C-3 class on Friday November 13 at the home of Billy and Melinda Guy!  If you have been attending Church at the Grove and haven’t joined yet, the C-3 is a chance to hear about the details of our church and ask questions you may have.  You don’t have to join that night but it is a chance to learn about the church.  C-3 is a requirement to join Church at the Grove.  Drop us an email or call to make a reservation.
• Someone visited our church yesterday that was invited on FACEBOOK!  What a great idea!  What if we used our social networking connections to invite people to join us at Church at the Grove?  Just a thought!
• Someone told me recently about a conversation they had with someone in our community about Church at the Grove.  The person responded with, “Isn’t Church at the Grove that church that does a lot in the community?”  I LOVE IT!
• Keep praying, fasting, and seeking God’s face!  Continue to invest into people around you! 

See you Sunday! 

Scripture Memory:
Matthew 7:7
“Ask, and it will be given to you, seek, and you will find, knock, and it will be opened to you.”

Action Step:
As you continue in your 40 days of fasting and prayer, take your park-n-pray CD and travel to Walnut Grove High School this week or another suggested location and spend time in prayer as a family, following the instructions on your CD.

Random Thoughts:

• I did a wedding yesterday afternoon in Helen, GA for a Church at the Grove member.  Jill and I stayed up here last night and I have spent some time in prayer and Bible study this morning overlooking the beautiful mountains of North GA.  I am overwhelmed with my need to “depend on God”.  There is so much going on and so much to do, but I must spend time “depending on God”. 
• Yesterday was an incredible and awesome day for me personally at Church at the Grove.  I am thankful for Gabe Shababy and God’s work in his life.  I enjoyed having Rolin lead us in worship.  He is truly gifted and I love his heart for God.  I enjoyed being able to spend some time with people and time in worship.
• I am so excited about this season of prayer we are in and the feedback and stories that I am receiving from so many people about their prayer and devotional times as individuals and as families.  I believe the fruit from this will be amazing for our church.
• Please continue in prayer and make use of your devotionals and your park-n-pray resource.  Please go and pray over the different areas of our community. 
• Please take time this next Sunday to join one of our personal communication meetings in the Library at Youth Middle School if you haven’t attended one yet!  I want as many people as possible to hear the details of how God is leading us as  a church.  You can meet at 10am or 11am.  We need as many people on board with how God is leading us. 
• Make sure you make it a priority to be at Church at the Grove on Sunday November 8!  This is celebration Sunday of our “ADVANCE” Faith Initiative!  It will be an awesome Sunday and you don’t want to miss it.

Nico Smith, like most Afrikaners of his era in South Africa, grew up drinking a doctrine of white superiority with his mother’s milk.  When the 1948 elections brought the Afrikaner Nationalists to power, nineteen-year-old Nico took to the streets to celebrate the arrival of government sponsored apartheid. 

In his thirties, as an influential figure within the Dutch Reformed Church, Nico was recruited to join the elite fraternity known as the Broederbond.  This group connected many of the most powerful members of society in a secretive brotherhood, working behind the scenes to advance the Afrikaner political and ideological agenda.  These connections soon propelled Nico into a respected professorial position at Stellenbosch University. 

But on a visit to Switzerland in 1963, Nico met the great theologian Karl Barth.  Near the end of his visit, Dr. Barth approached Nico and inquired politely,  “May I ask you a personal question?” Nico nodded.  He viewed conversing with the famed Christian thinker as a high privilege. 

“Are you free to preach the Gospel in South Africa?”  asked Barth. 

“Yes, of course I am.”  Nico replied pleasantly.  “Freedom of religion.”

Barth shook his head.  “That’s not the kind of freedom I am asking about.  Are you free in yourself?”  If you come across things in the Bible that are contrary to what your family and friends believe, will you preach it?”

Nico shrugged.  “I’ve never come across something like that.”

The elderly theologian would not be dissuaded.  “Are you so free that even if you come across things in the Bible which are contrary to what your government is doing—that you will preach it?”

A crimson blotch rose on Nico’s cheek, and he looked away.  It was an awkward question, and he did not feel he had an adequate answer. 

Nico was soon safely back in South Africa, but Barth’s questions had somehow managed to travel with him.  They lodged in his thoughts and stuck, like seed-carrying burrs caught in one’s sock—not growing, but certainly not comfortable either. 

It was a full ten years later at a meeting of the Broederbond that the revolution Barth had gently seeded finally took root.  As Nico pondered the attitudes and actions of his associates, the answer to Barth’s question sprang into his mind: I’m not free!  He stood and walked out of the meeting. 

Nico knew that quitting the Broederbond was social suicide. 

As best, he could hope to step away without drawing much notice.  He would live quietly, keeping a healthy separation between his newfound Christian convictions and political issues.  For several years he did.  But the questions would not be so easily satisfied.

When the government bulldozed a group of black squatter homes on the outskirts of town, some of Nico’s students asked him what the Christian response should be.  More questions.  As he pondered the answer, he realized he could remain silent no longer.  Nico drafted an official criticism of the government action and offered it for publication.  There was now no going back. 

A political firestorm began to envelope Nico.  With little else to do, Nico sought guidance in prayer.  As if in answer, the next Monday morning a telegram arrived from the black township of Mamelodi.  The residents were asking that Nico become their pastor. 

“God, no, I didn’t ask for this,” lamented Nico.  Emotion surged over him, and he began t cry right in front of the postman.  As he waited for his wife Ellen’s return, Nico began to hope that she would reject the idea, giving him an easy out with God.

Ellen, however, provided him no excuses.  “Nico, you realize that we’ll have to go,” she said after reading the telegram.  The decision was made. 

In the face of staggering social and even physical risks, Nico and Ellen left the university at Stellenbosch and filled the pastorship of the Mamelodi parish.  Initially, they lived in a white suburb within driving distance of the township and commuted to the church.  In time, however, they realized they could not truly minister to the people of Mamelodi without drawing nearer.  A short while later, Nico and Ellen became the first whites under apartheid to receive official permission to live in a black area—the only white residents in a township of 300,000 people. 

Nico and Ellen Smith’s labors continue to bring healing to a torn nation. The seeds of their transformation were little more than a few simple questions.

Scripture Memory:
Nehemiah 1:4 (ESV)
⁴ As soon as I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven.

Action Step:
Covenant with the CATG family for 40 days of prayer and some type of weekly fast.

Random Thoughts:

• I never cease to be amazed at God’s power and ability to exceed my expectations!  I continue to see God at work in amazing ways collectively in our church and in the lives of individuals. 
• Last Thursday morning we partnered with the Youth Middle School Council and made the rounds to deliver coffee, sodas, snacks and candy to all the teachers and faculty.  It was great to see their brightened faces as we showed them God’s love in a practical way.  I love to do small things that show significant concern to people that work so hard to invest in the lives of our children.
• What a great sports weekend!  I was able to see Loganville play, catch the DAWGS and Jackets, watch multiple college football games and witness the Falcons win on Sunday night.  Oh yeah, I also caught a little Baseball. 
• Sunday morning was special.  What a great service of worship and prayer!  I love seeing so many new faces each week of guests joining us for worship.  I have had some great feedback from the service.  I love Austin and Shelley and I am so thankful for their leadership. 
• I hope you are spending time each day in prayer for ADVANCE!  Thank you to Gabe, Kortney and their prayer team for putting together our prayer journals and leading our prayer emphasis for ADVANCE.  WE MUST BE PRAYING FOR GOD TO USE OUR CHURCH IN THIS COMMUNITY AND AROUND THE WORLD.
• Check out advance2009.org and see the site that Nathan Boyd put together that shares our vision and plans for Church at the Grove. 
• I have been reading through Ezra, Nehemiah and Acts.  Ezra, Nehemiah and the Disciples in the early church all faced opposition.  It should not come as a surprise.  Vision and Dreams with the intent of honoring and glorifying God ALWAYS meet opposition.  I believe that we have been under attack and it will continue.  We need to pray and seek God’s guidance during this time.  I covet your prayers for our leadership and staff.
• Charles Spurgeon the great preacher stated, “Whenever God determines to do a great work, He first sets His people to pray.”
• God wants to do something amazing in and through Church of the Grove.  I am convinced of it!
• Don’t miss any Sundays during this ADVANCE series!
• Please be in prayer.  Use your journals!  You will get another prayer tool this Sunday called Park n Pray.
• Continue to invest and invite people with you on Sundays.
• Stay connected to your Community Groups.
• See you Sunday!  I am praying for you and your family!

Scripture:
Romans 10:9 (ESV)
⁹ because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

Action Step:
Share the gospel in a simple way this week with someone using something you learned from this series.

Thoughts:

• It was awesome to have Austin and Shelley back with the band this week. 
• I have loved teaching this series, “The Gospel”!  It would be easy for me to continue in this series for several more weeks. 
• Jesus didn’t teach that good people go to heaven, he taught that forgiven people go to heaven!
• This coming week and the next several weeks are very important for the life of Church at the Grove.  I would love to see maximum attendance over the next six weeks.  As your pastor, I really need you to be there!
• This next Sunday we kick off a huge emphasis on prayer.  Every family will receive a prayer journal and it will include devotionals for the family for 40 days.  PLEASE set aside time to pray or our community, Church at the Grove and how God wants to use our church in our community.
• God is doing some awesome things!  Shoot me an email or make a comment here on the blog regarding how you see God working in your life or in our church.
• I love you guys and I am praying for you and your families.

Scripture Memory:
2 Corinthians 5:21 (ESV)
²¹ For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Action Step:
Accept God’s invitation to his celebration of his restored children!

Reflections and Important news for Church at the Grove:

• What a weekend at Church at the Grove!  We heard Saturday evening that Austin and Shelley were both unable to make it due to being sick.  We prayed, we scrambled and we thank God for Jeffrey Slape being able to step in.  Thank you BIG to Gabe and my wife Jill for stepping in and making Sunday a great Sunday. 
• Gabe, Jill and our band are awesome!  They can adjust to any circumstances and still sound great and lead incredible worship!
• I am loving my community group.  Our starting point group meets on Sunday nights and we are having a blast!  This past Sunday was Mexican night, this coming Sunday is Soup and Salad night!  Oh yeah, we are also having some great discussion about God and the Bible.

I am loving this current series we are in!  There is nothing more foundational and vital to our spiritual journey than THE GOSPEL!

• This past Sunday we looked at the story of the Prodigal.  Here are a few thoughts for review:
• Jesus is telling this story to two groups of people:  The younger son identifies with the tax collectors and sinners.  The Elder son identifies with the Pharisees and teachers of the Law.
• The story could be more accurately titled, “The Two Lost Sons” or “The Prodigal God”. 
• It is just as much about the Elder son as the Younger son.  The were both alienated from the father.
• The father leaves his house to come greet and invite each son to come into his home.  What a picture of Jesus leaving heaven to come to us!
• The Elder son remains alienated from the father because of his pride in his moral superiority or his own righteousness.  That is why 2 Corinthians 5:21 is such an important verse alongside this passage.

I am so burdened for so many families in our church community right now.  There are so many families going through hard and difficult times.

I believe with all my heart that we are under spiritual attack.  The enemy doesn’t want our church to have impact and influence!  We must be in prayer for our church!

We are entering an important and vital time of prayer for the life of our church!  Please join us this coming week in our 40 days of prayer and fasting!  You will receive a prayer journal this coming Sunday! 

As we move into our ADVANCE Faith Initiative this fall, we will continue to face attack and opposition!  We must stay focused and resist the temptation to get distracted. 

Please be in prayer for our ADVANCE Faith Initiative!

You can see the article on their website here!

You can check out the video of the report here!

Scripture Memory:
1 Chronicles 29:11-12 (ESV)
¹¹ Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all.
¹² Both riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all. In your hand are power and might, and in your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all.

Action Step:
Surrender everything to God, Listen to His voice and follow through!

Random Thoughts:

I am so thankful for what God has done in and through Church at the Grove over the last 3 years but it is time to look forward to what God has in store for Church at the Grove in the future.

Yesterday, we launched ADVANCE 09, a Faith Initiative that will prepare us spiritually and financially for the next phase in the life of Church at the Grove.  It will allow for 5 specific things in the life of Church at the Grove.

1. We will transition our Sunday gatherings in January 2010 to the 450 seat auditorium at the new Walnut Grove High School in the community of Walnut Grove. 
2. We have had a heart and vision for the community of Social Circle since the very beginning of Church at the Grove.  The ADVANCE Faith Initiative will allow Church at the Grove to launch a Sunday gathering in the community of Social Circle set for teh fall of 2010. 
3. The ADVANCE Faith Initiative will allow Church at the Grove to begin setting aside finances specifically for a piece of land in the Walnut Grove area.
4. The ADVANCE Faith Initiative will allow us to consider an additional staff member to facilitate future growth in the life of Church at the Grove.
5. We plan to set aside a portion of our ADVANCE Faith Initiative funds specifically for the mission projects in our local community and for the partnerships we have developed for global missions.

I am asking our church to do three things during this Faith Initiative over the next two months. 

• Surrender
• Pray
• Follow Through

It has been an incredible ride over the past 3 years, but it is time to look forward. 

I spent the morning in a classroom with high school students watching as the towers crumbled and life as we know it transformed before our eyes.  We talk, cried and comforted each other and other day-to-day issues did not matter in light of what we observed on that morning. 

I can’t help but wonder what eternity held for the over 3000 people that perished on that day. 

What was their relationship with God on that day?  Had they ever connected to a church?  What type of an experience did they have when they went to church?  Was there a dynamic, relevant, Jesus-centered, Bible-focused church within a reasonable distance to them that would have reached out to them with the love of God?

Starting churches matters!  People perish everyday that matter to God and God is still using the local church as the primary delivery method of the gospel! 

That is why Church at the Grove matters and why we started this church 3 years ago! 

Happy Birthday Church at the Grove!